Europe must not give EUR 590 million of “accession aid” to Turkey

The European budget for 2018 includes almost EUR 590 million of “accession aid” for Turkey. The N-VA does not want European tax money going to Erdoğan and will therefore vote against it. “Turkey will never become a Member State of the European Union and therefore should also not be permitted to receive hundreds of millions of euros of accession aid,” says MEP Sander Loones. “Does Turkey play an important role in the region? Yes. Should the country become a member of the EU as a result? Of course not.”

Money for “political reforms”

It is striking that 167 million euros is being allocated to support “political reforms” in Turkey. This is in addition to the 1 billion euros that Europe has already given Turkey over the past decade to support the rule of law, civil society, fundamental rights and democracy. “Over a period of ten years, Turkey has taken great strides with that money; unfortunately, however, those strides have been strides backwards,” says MEP Mark Demesmaeker. “And yet anyone who plays dirty can still count on getting a nice fat reward from the European Union. That is something we have really got to put a stop to.”

N-VA calls on MEPs to vote against

Both MEPs are calling on their colleagues in the Parliament to vote against the accession aid: “The European Parliament cannot keep on doing no more than issuing stern declarations; it must make it clear that a line has been crossed here. Proposals to freeze 30 million euros until Ankara makes the necessary reforms are not enough. Not one euro of accession aid must go to Erdoğan.”